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Recently in the media, immigration has become a very common topic. When president-elect Donald Trump first debuted his campaign, he said things about immigrants that were very offensive to people. Trump claimed that people from Mexico bring over “drugs and rapists.”

“I think Trump’s statements have increased fear in a lot of citizens, especially minorities,” says senior Lyla Warsi.While some are highly against Trumps view on immigration, others think that the president-elect is just being honest about what is happening in our country.“I agree with Trump that if you are illegal here you should be sent back. You should have come to the US the right way. They are taking our government support for our people and not helping the economy in any way,” says senior Zane Riddle.One of the comments Trump made that really stood out in his campaign was when he said he was going to “build a wall” so that people from Mexico wouldn’t be able to come over to America. “I support it because people are sneaking over here illegally, and my taxes dollars going towards their welfare isn’t right,” says Riddle.While some agree with Trumps blasphemous statements, even some of his supporters do not believe in the building of a wall.“I like Trump and agree with a lot of things he says, but I don’t support the building of the wall. It would be very hard to do and it would cost tons of money,” says senior Bryce Sawyer.Immigration has and probably will always be a touchy subject when it comes to America. Although we are a melting pot of different types of people and cultures, some native people seem to be threatened by the different people and cultures moving to America. “People have an innate fear of harmful change. In many European countries, there is a fear that too many migrants might ‘overpower’ the pre-existing culture,” says senior Manny Feigel. Some Americans, most who are apart of past generations, have this fear for change, but change is inevitable and ever constant in our culture. As each generation passes on we progress more. So while some are fearful of what immigrants will do to us, others are joyful of how immigrants have helped us. “Research shows that immigrants generally have a positive impact on the economy in education of the workforce, productivity, innovation, and more. Many immigrants pay more in taxes over their lifetime than they use in government services,” says senior Nathan Robledo.Immigrants have heavily impacted our culture; for example, immigrant farmers have shown us how to grow more organic food and medical treatments that immigrants have developed and supplemented into our healthcare system. They also allow the rest of the world to view us as a positive and accepting country. “I feel like immigrants have benefited our society because our generation is more accepting of people with diverse backgrounds and that’s very beneficial to the U.S,” says Warsi. Although everyone has different views on immigration, in spite of differing political stances, you can’t argue that immigrants have helped America become great. As a whole, we should all focus on accepting and appreciating immigrants. “Appreciate immigrants because of the struggle they live through every day that is rarely talked about. Appreciate immigrants because of their backgrounds, which can oftentimes be more horrific than you can imagine. Appreciate immigrants because of regardless of your political stances, we all respect human life,” says Feigel.

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